There were initial plans to conclude the series with two special TV movies, but the plans have not come to fruition. Several of the series' stars have since commented that the series is now unlikely to return. HBO had repeatedly asserted that the two movies could still be made,[4] but it noted in July 2008 that the possibility of the two TV movies being made was very slim.[5]

Former hostess of The Bella Union/Co-proprietress of brothel, The Chez Amis. There were several madams in the camp, including Dora Dufran and Mollie Johnson, however the character of Joanie Stubbs does not closely follow what is known about these madams.

Themes

Milch has pointed out repeatedly in interviews that the intent of the show was to study the way that civilization comes together from chaos. Initially, he intended to study this within Roman civilization, but HBO's Rome series (then in production) motivated him to look into the Deadwood community. The need to make the narrative tie to Milch's vision of society may account for why historical divergence occurs at times.

Although the series touches on a variety of issues including race, prostitution, misogyny, violence, politics, and immigration, the crux of most of the major story lines center on this issue of bringing order from chaos. The series can be conceptually framed by the major plot points that govern the changing status of the city:

Law in Deadwood: In the first season, the major focus of the story is on the rivalry between Swearengen and Bullock. Swearengen governs the city like a warlord and Bullock is the only significant opposing voice. By the end of the season, a compromise is brought in where law stands in the town, albeit with concessions.

Politics in Deadwood: Toward the end of the first season and governing the second and third seasons, the status of Deadwood within the United States becomes the most critical issue. A variety of business and political forces repeatedly push for either sovereignty or absorption into other territories or towns. The show takes great pains to show the corruption of the political interests and their ability to employ violence that matches Swearengen's.

Business in Deadwood: Initially foreshadowed by Cy Tolliver's arrival in Deadwood in the first season, business interests from beyond are studied at length. As with politics, the show juxtaposes Swearengen's violence with that of Tolliver and George Hearst. Whereas Swearengen is brutal overtly, Hearst masks his involvement in attacks and violence through the series.

Architecture in Deadwood: The buildings progress from crude walled tents at the outset of the first season to more elaborate buildings by the second season, with key ones getting window glass.

Power in the United States: In short, the series accurately depicts the role of entrepreneurial vice lords in generating political communities. Swearengen is shown dispensing patronage like a typical "political machine boss" which is not so far-fetched as saloons were used to debate politics, hold meetings and trials etc. Infamous councilmen in Chicago's Levee District were similarly saloon owners, gang bosses, and pimps. Gangs could be counted on to "get out the vote" of whichever immigrant community the boss was plugged into.

The changing nature of the American West: The series follows the dying days of the 'Wild' West, as the rugged individualism that drove people like Seth Bullock to set up in the camp is undone and replaced by corporate capitalism, bigger government and the corruption inherent in either structure. Eventually, the camp is changed entirely, with individual prospectors moved out and all gold mining consolidated into George Hearst's holdings.

Notable plot points

Season 1 (2004)

Deadwood Season 1 DVD

In 1876, Seth Bullock leaves his job as a Marshal in Montana to establish a hardware business in the gold-mining camp of Deadwood, Dakota Territory, along with his friend and business partner, Sol Star. Wild Bill Hickok, the infamous gunslinger of the west, is on a separate journey to Deadwood, accompanied by Charlie Utter and Calamity Jane.

Al Swearengen is the owner of The Gem, a local saloon and brothel. Other notable residents include Dr. Amos Cochran; A. W. Merrick, owner and editor of the local newspaper "The Pioneer"; and E.B. Farnum, proprietor of The Grand Central Hotel. Brom Garret, a wealthy businessman from New York City, lives at The Grand Central Hotel with his wife, Alma, who nurses a secret laudanum habit. Aware that Garret is interested in prospecting, Swearengen and Farnum deceive him into purchasing a gold claim in a confidence game. Newly-arrived Cy Tolliver and his entourage purchase an abandoned hotel across from The Gem and begin renovations, then open the Bella Union Saloon, a luxurious gambling house and brothel.

Brom Garret soon learns that his gold claim is worthless and demands Swearengen reimburse his money. Swearengen orders Dan Dority to kill Garret and "make it look like an accident." Dority throws Garret off a cliff, only to discover that the claim is actually a rich one after all. Newly widowed Alma Garret asks Wild Bill Hickok for guidance regarding the gold claim and Swearengen's renewed interest. Hickok asks Bullock to advise Garret; Bullock agrees. Hickok also suggests that Garret hire Whitney Ellsworth, a trustworthy and experienced prospector. Alma Garret takes custody of young Sofia Metz, whose family was murdered on the way back to Minnesota.

During a poker game, Wild Bill Hickok is murdered in Tom Nuttall's #10 Saloon by Jack McCall. When McCall is put on trial, Swearengen leans on the acting magistrate, suggesting that McCall must be acquitted to avoid scrutiny from Washington, DC. The judge cuts the trial short and the jury acquits McCall, who leaves town immediately after the verdict. Bullock pursues McCall, determined to bring him to justice. Bullock and Charlie Utter later find McCall hiding at a boarding house and take him to Yankton for trial.

Smallpox spreads in Deadwood, creating an urgent need for vaccines. The afflicted are segregated from the main camp in plague tents. Calamity Jane aids Doctor Cochran in caring for the sick.

The senior members of the community form a municipal government to prepare for future annexation, as well as to bribe the territorial legislature, thereby ensuring the security of existing titles, claims and properties. Swearengen bribes local Magistrate Clagett to quash a murder warrant.

Alma's father Otis Russell arrives with plans to secure Alma's new-found wealth in order to pay off his endless debts and fulfill his own greed. The U.S. army arrives in Deadwood and a parade is quickly organized. Bullock confronts a self-confident Otis Russell in The Bella Union. When Russell threatens the safety of his own daughter should Bullock stand in the way of his acquiring the gold claim, Seth unceremoniously beats him and orders Russell to leave the camp.

The increasingly addled Reverend Smith, dying from an apparent brain tumor, is smothered to death by Al Swearengen in a mercy killing. Tolliver attempts to bribe General Crook to leave a garrison in Deadwood but is indignantly refused. When Magistrate Clagett attempts to extort Swearengen further over the murder warrant, Swearengen responds by enlisting Clagett's toll collector, Silas Adams, to murder Clagett. Silas performs the deed and allies himself with Swearengen, becoming his agent. As Sheriff Con Stapleton has been compromised by Cy Tolliver, Bullock volunteers to become the new sheriff as the cavalry rides out of town.

Season 2 (2005)

Deadwood Season 2 DVD cover

When Swearengen publicly disparages Bullock's abilities as sheriff, intimating that Bullock's focus is not on his job due to his affair with Alma Garret, Bullock removes his gun and badge and throws Swearengen and himself over the Gem balcony. Al is about to slit Bullock's throat in the muddy street, but stops after looking up to see Bullock's wife Martha and her son William arriving in camp. Bullock tells Alma they must either leave camp or stop seeing one another. Garret agrees that it is better to end the relationship and remain in town. Calamity Jane resurfaces and manages to support Bullock and Utter in persuading Swearengen to return Bullock's gun and badge. A truce is made. Garret discovers she is pregnant by Bullock and confides in Trixie, who persuades Ellsworth to make a marriage proposal to Garret and influences Garret to accept the proposal in order to save her the humiliation of unwed motherhood.

Swearengen collapses in his office with the door locked. His concerned associates assume that he wants to be left alone, but as the days pass their alarm grows and they finally break into the office. Dr. Cochran diagnoses Al with kidney stones and performs a draining procedure. Swearengen eventually passes the stones, but has a small stroke in the process.

Joanie Stubbs opens her own brothel, The Chez Amis, with her newly arrived partner Maddie. Francis Wolcott, a geologist working for George Hearst, arrives in Deadwood and soon makes his presence felt at the Chez Amis. Wolcott has paid for transportation of most of the prostitutes, in order to cater to his selective tastes. Cy Tolliver learns of Wolcott's sexual proclivities and baits him, resulting in Wolcott murdering two of Joanie Stubb's prostitutes. When Maddie attempts to extort money from Wolcott, he kills her too. Cy Tolliver has the bodies removed and pardons Wolcott. Joanie sends the remaining girls away so that they will be safe from the murderous Wolcott. Joanie confides in Charlie Utter regarding the murders, extracting a promise that he never repeat the information.

Alma fires Miss Isringhausen, Sophia's tutor. Isringhausen turns to Silas Adams under the pretext of fear for her life at the hands of the Widow Garret, and they embark upon a relationship. Isringhausen convinces Adams to allow her to meet with Swearengen. At the meeting, she admits to being an agent of the Pinkertons under the employ of Brom Garret's family, who instructed Isringhausen to frame Alma for soliciting Swearengen to murder her husband. Swearengen agrees to play along, but later reveals to Garret that he intends to blackmail Isringhausen due to his hatred for the Pinkerton agency.

Samuel Fields, "The Nigger General", returns to camp. He tries to enlist Hostetler in his schemes. Bullock is forced to rescue him from an angry mob headed by the oft-drunk, virulently racist Steve. Later, Hostetler catches a drunken Steve in the livery stable masturbating on Bullock's horse in revenge. Fields' and Hostetler manage to coerce Steve into signing a written confession of bestiality. The admission will be publicized should Steve make any trouble for either of the livery workers in the future.

Hugo Jarry, a Yankton commissioner, tries to persuade Swearengen and Tolliver that Deadwood should become part of Dakota territory rather than Montana. He ends up siding with Swearengen.

Alma Garret enlists the help of Sol Star to establish a bank in the camp.

Wolcott's agent, Lee, burns the bodies of Chinese prostitutes who have died from malnourishment whilst in his remit. Mr. Wu is enraged and requests Swearengen's help to stop Lee. Because Lee is employed by Wolcott, who is in turn employed by George Hearst, Swearengen refuses any help until after negotiations over the town's future have been resolved. Mr. Wu escapes house arrest at The Gem, but is stopped by Johnny Burns just in time from exacting his revenge or being killed.

William Bullock is trampled by a horse that escapes during a failed neutering. The boy dies several hours after. His funeral is attended by many of Deadwood's citizens and the service is conducted by former card sharp Andy Cramed, who has returned to Deadwood an ordainedminister.

George Hearst arrives in Deadwood and when he learns of the murders committed by Wolcott, confronts and fires him. Hearst purchases the Grand Central hotel from E. B. Farnum. The shamed Wolcott hangs himself. Tolliver claims to be in possession of a letter of confession in which Wolcott states that Hearst was aware of his murderous ways, yet continued his employment. Tolliver blackmails Hearst for 5% of every Gold Claim he has acquired in Deadwood.

Al Swearengen negotiates with George Hearst on behalf of Mr. Wu, and they agree that Wu can regain his status if his people prove to be better workers than those of the "San Francisco cocksucker" Lee. Mr. Wu and Swearengen's henchmen plan vengeance in Deadwood's Chinatown. The operation is successful and Wu slits the throat of his rival.

Alma Garret and Ellsworth marry at a ceremony conducted by Andy Cramed at the Grand Central hotel. After much dealing and double-dealing on the part of Swearengen and Silas Adams, the official papers confirming Deadwood's annexation into Yankton territory are signed by Bullock and Swearengen with Hugo Jarry present. Andy Cramed stabs Tolliver outside the Bella Union.

Season 3 (2006)

Deadwood Season 3 DVD cover

Hearst murders several of his own Cornish miners when they attempt to unionize. Elections are announced: Star and Farnum run for Mayor, while Bullock and barman Harry Manning compete for Sheriff. Angered that Hearst had someone killed in the Gem, Al cancels the election debates in an attempt to reassert his position in the camp. To teach Al a lesson and force him to help Hearst buy Alma's claim, Hearst has his lead henchman Captain Turner restrain Al, then chops off one of his fingers.

Over Ellsworth's strong objections, Alma meets with Hearst to discuss buying her claim. Hearst becomes furious when she offers him a merely non-controlling interest and behaves menacingly towards Alma, but then allows her to leave without following through on his implied threat of rape.

Tolliver slowly recovers after being stabbed and gets back on his feet. Hearst knows Cy is lying about having a letter from Wolcott but decides to employ Cy to help deal with the members of the camp. Traveling actor Jack Langrishe arrives in Deadwood with his theatre troupe. He is an old friend of Swearengen's and eventually buys the former Chez Amis from Joannie Stubbs on condition that he build a new school house for the camp's children. Alma has Doc Cochran perform an abortion after her health takes a serious downturn and she and others decide it's best for all concerned.

Hostetler and Samuel "The Nigger General" Fields return to the camp to find that Steve has taken over the livery. Bullock mediates between them, eventually getting Hostetler to agree to sell the Livery to Steve. But Steve's relentless ranting, racial slurs, and impugning of Hostetler's honor finally drive the latter over the edge and he shoots himself.

Another miner is killed. Already angry from the Hostetler/Steve ordeal, Bullock arrests Hearst, drags him by the ear through the public thoroughfare, and puts him in jail overnight.

Alma is once again using dope. Leon confesses to Cy that he is Alma's supplier. Cy relays this news to Hearst, but Hearst is still angry from his encounter with Bullock and believes that if Tolliver had told him this useful news beforehand he might not have provoked the sheriff. A furious Tolliver tells Leon to do nothing, but Leon, afraid of being implicated in Alma's murder, has already cut her off. Suspecting that Alma's return to drugs is due to her unhappiness at being married, Ellsworth moves out of their house. They later agree to separate and Alma is able to stop taking the laudanum.

Hearst brings a large force of Pinkertons to the camp and encourages them to stir up trouble. Swearengen holds a meeting to decide what to do about Hearst. The town leaders are unable to decide on any direct action, other than to publish a letter from Bullock to the wife of one of the murdered miners that subtly highlights Hearst's callousness. Hearst has Merrick beaten for publishing it.

Alma is shot at in the street. Swearengen takes her into the Gem and orders Dan to kidnap and restrain Ellsworth. He guesses correctly that Hearst ordered the shooting in an attempt to provoke Ellsworth, then kill him when he comes to Alma's aid. Hearst sends his second to negotiate with Swearengen; Al kills him. The town unites to protect Alma as she returns to work at the bank. Hearst has Ellsworth assassinated in his tent at Alma's mine. Trixie shoots Hearst in revenge for Ellsworth's death, but fails to kill him. Fearing for her and Sophia's lives and unwilling to make the camp responsible for her ongoing protection, Alma sells her claim to Hearst to avoid further bloodshed.

Bullock receives discouraging news about the county-wide election returns in his race for sheriff against Harry Manning, all the while knowing Hearst may have manipulated the results using Federal soldiers brought in to vote for his handpicked candidate elsewhere in the county.

Hearst demands that the whore who shot him be murdered. Swearengen and Wu gather a militia in case all-out war breaks out. Al murders the prostitute Jen, despite Johnny's objections, in the hope of passing her corpse off as Trixie's in order to placate Hearst. Hearst believes the ruse and leaves Deadwood, giving over control of "all his other-than-mining interests" to Tolliver. Tolliver, enraged that Hearst is cutting him off, takes his frustrations out on Leon by stabbing him in the femoral artery. He points a gun at Hearst from his balcony and wants to shoot him, but instead watches as Bullock sees a smirking Hearst out of the camp.

Season time frame

Season 1: Mid 1876

The first season of Deadwood takes place six months after the founding of the camp, soon after Custer's Last Stand. Many come to Deadwood with dreams of easy riches; however, new citizens soon find that Deadwood is a lawless place where greed and corruption rule and only the strong, canny, and lucky survive.

Season 2: Early 1877

One year after the events of Season 1, the camp has become somewhat more orderly and civilized. Deadwood is progressing swimmingly, enjoying many contemporary conveniences such as the telegraph and a bank.

Season 3: Mid 1877

Six weeks after the events of Season 2, government and law, as well as the interests of powerful commercial entities, begin to enter (or perhaps encroach upon) the town as Deadwood preps itself for entry into Dakota Territory.

Use of profanity

From its debut, Deadwood has drawn attention for its use of extremely explicit, modern profanity, especially among the more coarse characters. It is a deliberate anachronism on the part of the creator with a twofold intent. Milch has explained in several interviews and on the DVD commentary tracks that the characters were originally intended to use period slang and swear words. Such words, however, were based heavily on the era's deep religious roots and tended to be more blasphemous than scatological. Instead of being shockingly crude (in keeping with the tone of a frontier mining camp), the results sounded downright comical. As one commentator put it "… if you put words like 'goldarn' into the mouths of the characters on 'Deadwood', they'd all wind up sounding like Yosemite Sam."[7]

Instead, it was decided that the show would use current profanity in order for the words to have the same impact on modern audiences as the blasphemous ones did back in the 1870s. In fact, in early episodes, the character of Mr. Wu seems to know only three words of English — the mangled name of one character ("Swedgin"), "San Francisco", and his favorite derogatory term for those whom he dislikes, "cocksucka". Wu is also fond of the Cantonese derogatory term "gweilo" which he applies to the camp's white males.

The other intent in regards to the frequency of the swearing was to signal to the audience the lawlessness of the camp in much the same way that the original inhabitants used it to show that they were living outside the bounds of "civil society."

The issue of the authenticity of Deadwood's dialogue has even been alluded to in the show itself. Early in the second season, E.B. Farnum has fleeced Mr. Wolcott of $10,000, and Farnum tries to console the geologist:

The word "fuck" was said 43 times in the first hour of the show.[8] It has also been reported that the series had a total count of 2,980 "fucks" and a cumulative average of 1.56 utterances of "fuck" per minute of footage.[9]

Historical divergence

In addition to the use of fictional characters that interact with real life Deadwood inhabitants, some liberties were taken in regard to known events of the time as well as with places and personalities.

The Grand Central Hotel—a three story, 64-room luxury hotel with steam heat and indoor bathrooms—was built in 1879 by Seth Bullock and his partner after the hardware store he co-owned with Sol Starr burned down. The Bullock Hotel continues to operate to this day as a casino.

E. B. Farnum was one of the first residents who was neither a miner nor prospector; he was the owner of a general store, not a hotel. He was married with three children when he arrived in Deadwood. He was very active in convincing the Dakota Territories to officially recognize the town and establish a nearby Army post, contrary to the series which had him oppose it under the sway of Al Swearengen.

Wild Bill Hickok's funeral was not, as the series suggests, a sparsely attended affair. Charlie Utter was away when Hickok was killed, but he returned and claimed the body. He placed an advertisement in the local paper and attended the funeral.

Gem Theater, referred to in the series as the Gem Saloon, was not built until April 7, 1877, the second of Al Swearengen's establishments. In 1876 when Bullock and Star arrived, Swearengen ran a small establishment called the Cricket Saloon, which featured bare-knuckle boxing among miners, as well as dog fights and cock fights.

Charlie Utter was unlike the show's somewhat unkempt man, uncomfortable in urban settings. He was known for the pride that he took in his appearance. He dressed in hand-tailored suits and kept his long blonde hair and mustache well-groomed at all times, keeping combs and mirrors with him constantly.

Seth Bullock was not married to his brother's widow, but to the woman who was reportedly his childhood sweetheart, Martha, whom he married in Utah in 1874. Robert Bullock was not Seth's brother, but a cousin. He did not have a son at the time when his wife came to join him, but a daughter, Margaret, who was still just a toddler. They subsequently had another daughter, Florence, and a son, Stanley. He deputized several people while sheriff, but not Charlie Utter. He was from Amherstburg (in Canada West at the time of his birth, but Ontario at the time of the storyline), and not Etobicoke as depicted in the series.

Al Swearengen was not originally from England, but Iowa. At the time the story opens in 1876, he was still operating the smaller Cricket Saloon. He was also still married to Nettie Swearengen, his first wife (but in keeping with his fictional counterpart, she divorced him on the grounds of mistreatment some time later).

Jane Canary is never referred to her by her nickname "Calamity Jane," though by 1876 she herself had not used anything but her nickname for several years. The show does not make clear that she did not become friends with Hickok and Utter until after they had been in Deadwood for some time. After arriving in Deadwood, she stopped wearing men's clothing, and worked for Swearengen at the Gem Theatre.

Critical reception

Deadwood received almost universal praise from critics over the course of its three year run. According to metacritic.com, the third season had near universal acclaim with only one negative review coming from Newsday's Verne Gay. The praise generally centered on the strength of the writing and Milch's unique style of dialogue. The strength and depth of the casting was cited repeatedly by critics and further substantiated by numerous nominations for best casting in a dramatic series.

Although it did not receive the same level of attention at awards shows as other HBO programs (notably The Sopranos and Six Feet Under), the writers, costume, casting, and art direction were repeatedly nominated for major awards. Ian McShane was another major exception to the show's relative anonymity, winning a Golden Globe award in the second season.

Cancellation

On May 13, 2006, HBO confirmed it had opted not to pick up the options of the actors, which were set to expire on June 11, 2006. This meant that a fourth season with the current cast as it stands was unlikely, though HBO had stressed that the show was not canceled and talks regarding its future were continuing. The chance of the show returning in its current state of cast and crew, however, was limited.

On June 5, 2006, HBO and creator David Milch agreed to make two two-hour television films in place of a fourth season, after Milch declined a short-order of 6 episodes. This was because in the show's original form, each season was only a few weeks in length, with each episode being one day, in the town of Deadwood. The final two-hour format would release these time restraints and allow for a broader narrative to finish off the series.[10]

In a January 13, 2007, interview, David Milch stated that he still intends to finish the 2 films, if possible.[11] On July 12, 2007, HBO executives admitted that producing the telefilms would be difficult and put the chances of their ever being made at "50-50."[12]

Actor Ian McShane claimed in an interview on October 1, 2007, that the show sets were due to be dismantled and that the movies would not be made.[13] Actors Jim Beaver and W. Earl Brown commented a day later that they considered the series to now be over.[14]

HBO broadcast history

Season 1: Sunday March 21, 2004 – Sunday June 13, 2004 10:00 pm

Season 2: Sunday March 6, 2005 – Sunday May 22, 2005 9:00 pm

Season 3: Sunday June 11, 2006 – Sunday August 27, 2006 9:00 pm

DVD releases

All three seasons are available on DVD. HBO was responsible for the North American DVD releases, while Paramount Home Entertainment handled international distribution—the latter being a byproduct of CBS Studios International (the successor-in-interest to the television unit of Paramount Pictures) handling worldwide TV distribution for the series (as Paramount Television co-produced the series with HBO). Season 3 was released on June 12, 2007. Deadwood: The Complete Series was released on December 9, 2008. This set includes a special bonus disc with new features, most prominently a focus on what would have occurred in the fourth season.

From Wikiquote

Deadwood is a weekly HBO
television drama that premiered in March 2004, set in the 1870s in
Deadwood, Dakota Territory. It features many historical figures,
such as Wild Bill Hickok, Seth Bullock, Sol Star, Calamity Jane,
and Al Swearengen.

Season
One

Pilot

Seth Bullock: We got chamber pots to sell ya.
And if you don't know what one of those is, the man livin' next to
you will appreciate your findin' out.

Merrick:[To Charlie about Wild Bill
Hickok] What a grand surprise. I never thought he'd live long
enough for me to meet him.

Al Swearengen: Well, I guess when it starts
pissin' rain in here, you know who to blame, huh? Now, I know
word's circulatin' Indians killed a family on the Spearfish Road.
Now it's not for me to tell anyone in this camp what to do, as much
as I don't want more people gettin' their throats cut, scalps
lifted or any other godless thing that these godless bloodthirsty
heathens do. Or even if someone wants to ride out in darkest night.
But I will tell you this. I'd use tonight to get myself organized.
Ride out in the morning clear-headed. And startin' tomorrow
morning, I will offer a personal $50 bounty for every decapitated
head of as many of these godless heathen cocksuckers as anyone can
bring in. Tomorrow. With no upper limit! That's all I say on that
subject, 'cept next round's on the house. And God rest the souls of
that poor family. And pussy's half price, next 15 minutes.

Calamity Jane: Oh, really? Tomorrow. What's
your fuckin' rush?! I'm goin' now. Even without Bill. Even without
Charlie. I know the road to Spearfish. And I don't drink where I'm
the only fuckin' one with balls!

Deep
Water

Doc Cochran: I see as much misery outta them
movin’ to justify their selves as them that set out to do
harm.

Al Swearengen: Let's leave it all alone. I'm
stupidest when I try to be funny.

Al Swearengen: You don't want to interfere
with me.

Calamity Jane: You think I'm scared of
you?

Al Swearengen: Sure you are. And if I take a
knife to you you'll be scared worse and a long time dying.

Wild Bill Hickok: If irritating me is the
jackpot, you got the job done.

Reverend Smith: Men like Mr. Seth Bullock
there raise the camp up.

Johnny: Yeah, the fella to be put in that box
might argue with you, Reverend.

Reverend Smith: Ah, Mr. Bullock did not draw
first. And I, point to his commissioning me to build the departed a
coffin and, and see to his Christian burial.

Reconnoitering the Rim

Jack McCall: [While playing poker]
Well, that's one in a row for you, Wild Bill. Who's hungry? What in
the hell damn time is it anyway?

Wild Bill: Sure you wanna quit playin', Jack?
The game's all that's between you and gettin' called a cunt.

Tom Nuttall: Ah, meeting adjourned, fellas.
Take it outside.

Wild Bill: That drooped eye of yours looks
like the hood of a cunt to me, Jack. When you talk, your mouth
looks like a cunt moving.

Jack McCall: I ain't gonna get in no gunfight
with you, Hickock.

Wild Bill: But you will run your cunt
mouth at me. And I will take it to play poker.

Al Swearengen:[during a meeting with
Johnny Burns, E.B. Farnum, and Jimmy Irons] I wanna know who
cut the cheese. [nobody answers] I'll tell you this for
openers: we are gonna set off an area on the balcony. [opens
the door to the balcony] And God help whoever doesn't use it,
because the next stink I have to smell in this office, and whoever
doesn't admit to it is going out the window, into the muck, onto
their fucking heads, and we'll see how they like farting from that
position, okay?

Al Swearengen:[discussing Custer at
Little Bighorn] I'll tell you this, son, you can mark my
words, Crazy Horse went into Little Bighorn, bought his people one
good, long-term ass-fucking. You do not want to be a
dirt-worshipping heathen from this fucking point forward. Pardon my
French.

Joanie Stubbs: Oh, I speak French.

Brom Garret: If I'm stooped when next you see
me, Alma, it won't be worry weighing me down, but bags of our
recovered gold.

Alma Garret: If you wish to see more of the
West let's leave now and see it, or else return back to New York. I
don't think we should linger here.

Al Swearengen: Every fuckin’ beatin’ I’m
grateful for. Every fuckin’ one of them. Get all the trust beat
outta you. And you know what the fuckin’ world is.

Here Was A
Man

Wild Bill Hickock:[on prospecting]
What slows me down is thinking about freezing my balls off in a
creek for the cocksuckers I'd lose the gold to at poker.

Cy Tolliver: How about a nap, a bath and sex
with a unfamiliar woman?

Wild Bill Hickok: Some goddamn point a man's
due to stop arguing with hisself and feeling twice the goddamn fool
he knows he is 'cause he can't be something he tries to be every
goddamn day without once getting to dinnertime and fucking it up. I
don't want to fight it no more, understand me Charlie? — and I
don't need you pissing in my ear about it. Will you let me go to
hell the way I want to?

Charlie Utter Yeah. I can do that.

Al Swearengen: Her husband came here with
childish ideas. Bought himself a gold claim with me an honest
broker. Claim pinches out, which will happen. But he can't take
that like a man, has to blame somebody. Seller's left camp, so he
picks on me. Says he'll bring in the Pinkertons if I don't offer
restitution. I got a healthy operation and I didn’t build it
brooding on the right, and wrong of things. I do not need the
Pinkertons descending like locusts. So I bend over for the
tenderfoot cocksucker. Reconnoiter your claim fully, I say. And
then, if you're still unhappy, I will give you your fucking money
back. And the tenderfoot agrees. Just as he's finishing his
reconnoiter, cocksucker falls to his death, pure fucking accident.
But up jumps the widow in righteous fucking indignation. Wants the
doctor to examine him for murder wounds. My visions of locusts
return. I see Pinkertons coming in swarms.

Wild Bill Hickok: Your husband and me had this
talk, and I told him to head home to avoid a dark result. But I
didn't say it in thunder. Ma'am, listen to the thunder.

The
Trial of Jack McCall

Doc Cochran: I don't know if this is the time
for you to stop takin' this laudanum, Mrs. Garrett.

Alma Garret: What a pleasant surprise, doctor.
To hear you admit the limits of your knowledge.

Al Swearengen: Let me say this once in your
hearing. For outright stupidity, the whole fuckin' trial concept
goes shoulder to shoulder with that cocksucker Custer's thinkin'
when he headed for that ridge.

Cy Tolliver: It's got its disadvantages.

Al Swearengen: We’re illegal. Our whole goal
is to get annexed to the United fuckin' States. We start holdin'
trials, what's to keep the United States fuckin' Congress from
sayin' "Oh, excuse us, we didn't realize you were a fuckin'
sovereign community and nation out there. Where's your cocksucker's
flag? Where's your fuckin’ navy or the like? Maybe when we make our
treaty with the Sioux, we should treat you people like renegade
fuckin' Indians. Deny your fuckin' gold and property claims. And
hand everything over instead to our ne'er-do-well cousins and
brothers-in-law."

Cy Tolliver: That we don't want.

Al Swearengen: Before a guilty verdict would
get executed on that cocksucker, three men would walk in that meat
locker where he's bein' held with bags over their heads and cut his
fuckin' throat. And within half an hour, that celestial's little
pigs will be on their backs with their hooves in the air, belching
up human remains.

Judge: Are you saying you'd order that to be
done?

Al Swearengen: I'm sayin' I had a vision it'd
happen. My second of the day. First come when I was watchin' you
and them lawyers on line this morning. They began to slither in my
sight like vipers. So as not to puke, I had to close my eyes. The
vision went on. Got worse. I saw the vipers in the big nest in
Washington. They were takin' us in the camp for actin' like we
could set out own laws up or organizations and then saw the big
viper decide to strangle and swallow us up every fuckin' thing we
gain here. It was horrible. How could we fuckin' avoid it? How
could we let the vipers in the big nest know that we didn’t wanna
cause any fuckin' trouble?

Judge: And that's when you had your second
vision.

Al Swearengen: Yeah, the cut throats and the
pigs. But who wants all that blood spilled, judge, huh? Isn't there
a simpler way of not pissing off the big vipers?

Al Swearengen: Sometimes I wish we could just
hit 'em over the head, rob 'em, and throw their bodies in the
creek.

Cy Tolliver: But that would be wrong.

E.B: What's he ever done for me? Except let me
terrify him every goddamned day of his life 'til the idea of bowel
regularity is a forlorn fuckin' hope.

Plague

A.W. Merrick: May I say, Dan, having resumed
drinking alcohol, I cannot for the life of me remember why I ever
gave it up.

Al Swearengen: I’d rather try touching the
moon than take on a whore’s thinking.

Doc Cochran: I take it you’ve been out on a
hoot?

Calamity Jane: I’ve been drunk awhile;
correct. What the fuck is that to you?

Doc Cochran: The question was well meant. Like
if you was a farmer, I’d ask ya how the farming was going.

Charlie Utter: [on burying a dead Native] You
ain’t doin’ him no favor. I mean his way to heaven’s above ground
and lookin’ west.

Seth Bullock: Let’s do that, then.

Charlie Utter: Don’t you want to take him over
the ridge? To his fuckin' Holy Ground and put him up there with his
headless buddy? I mean, that’s what you nearly got killed for:
interfering with his big fuckin’ medicine, burying his fuckin’
buddy, over the fuckin’ ridge!

Calamity Jane: I'm calling on the widow and
the little one in her care, and if I was you I wouldn't try to stop
me.

E.B.: Be brief!

Calamity Jane: Be fucked!

E.B.: Her gutter mouth, and the widow in an
opium stupor: a conversation for the ages.

Al Swearengen: My oath on this: Every day that
the widow sits on her ass in New York City, looks west at sunset
and thinks to herself "God bless you ignorant cocksuckers in
Deadwood, who do strive mightily and at little money to add to my
ever-increasing fortune," she’ll be safe from the wiles of Al
Swearengen.

No
Other Sons or Daughters

Al Swearengen: In life you have to do a lot of
things you don't fucking want to do. Many times, that's what the
fuck life is... one vile fucking task after another. But don't get
aggravated.... then the enemy has you by the short hairs.

Al Swearengen: The direction of my thoughts —
with the sustained fucking stupidity that you’re exhibiting, I
hesitate to voice them — is that you might want to train for Phil’s
former position.

Johnny: Al... I have hoped for this
conversation ever since you give me that Indian head to hide.

Johnny:[coming down the stairs] Hey,
Al. Any reason I can’t share with Dan the, uh, proceedings of the
talk me and you just had about me, uh, takin’ over for Persimmon
Phil?

Al Swearengen: Yeah, keep Dan in the
dark.

[Johnny looks at Al, crestfallen.]

Dan: Hey, Johnny.

Johnny: Dan.

Dan: What’s new?

[Johnny looks down sadly and says nothing.]

Reverend Smith: This is God's purpose, but not
knowing the purpose is my portion of suffering.

Doc Cochran: If this is His will, He is a son
of a bitch.

Mister Wu

[Wu is explaining his problem to Al by drawing
pictures]

Mr. Wu: Bok Gwai Lo... cocksucka!

Al Swearengen: Yeah, glad I taught you that
fuckin’ word. These are whites, huh?

Mr. Wu: White cocksucka! [shows empty
bag]

Al Swearengen: Two white cocksuckers killed
him and stole the dope that he was bringing to you.

Mr. Wu: White cocksucka! You, Swedgin.

Al Swearengen:[suddenly enraged] The
dope that you were gonna fuckin’ sell to me?

Jewel's Boot Is Made For
Walking

Silas Adams: It’s just the magistrate looking
to earn off that warrant. But no one else even knows it’s out on
you.

Al Swearengen: Maybe the magistrate needs to
die.

Silas Adams: Maybe he does.

[On Stapleton being appointed Sheriff]

Al Swearengen: Bullock, it’s a ceremonial
position to give comfort to Tom Nuttall, who feels the camp’s
leavin’ him behind. Putting a badge on Stapleton makes him feel
he’s got friends in high places.

Seth Bullock: That job shouldn’t go to a
shitheel.

Al Swearengen: Where as my feeling would be it
should go to a shitheel, as it’s shitheel’s work.

Al Swearengen: I want to tell you somethin’
about the law. Please, take a seat. Separate from all the bribes we
put up, I paid 5000 dollars to avoid being the object of fireside
ditties about a man that fled a murder warrant then worked very
hard to get his camp annexed by the territory, only to have them
serve the warrant of him and to face the six-foot drop. Into the
magistrate’s pocket the money goes, after which he sends a message.
The 5000’ll need company if I’m to be off the hook. I give you the
law.

Seth: It doesn’t have to be like that.

Al Swearengen: Don’t you think I don’t
understand. I mean, what can anyone of us ever really fuckin’ hope
for, huh? Except for a moment here and there with a person who
doesn’t want to rob, steal or murder us? At night, it may happen.
Sun-up, one person against the fuckin’ wall, the other may hop on
the fuckin’ bed trusting each other enough to tell half the fucking
truth. Everybody needs that. Becomes precious to ‘em. They don’t
want to see it fucked with.

Sol: I won’t pay.

Al Swearengen: You pay…or she pays. No home
visits. Do your visiting on the premises, five. [Sol slides
five coins across the bar] Seven for an ass-fuck.

Seth Bullock: Cold enough world without
gettin' gone against by your own.

Sold Under
Sin

Al Swearengen: This bloated tick, Claggett,
feeding on the neck of the fucking military.

Al Swearengen: Walk in unannounced is a good
way to get yourself killed, Doc.

Otis Russell:[To E.B.] It must cost
you sleep, the guests you drive off, the chances of thievin’ and
bilkin’ you lose needing to rub against your betters.

Seth Bullock: I'll be the fucking
sheriff.

Al Swearengen: Startin' when?

Seth Bullock: Startin' now.

Al Swearengen: Announcing your plans is a good
way to hear God laugh.

Season
Two

A
Lie Agreed Upon, Part One

Al Swearengen:[on Bullock and his affair
with Alma] He don’t know if he’s breathing or taking it in
through fucking gills; he is that fucking cunt-struck. They’re
afloat in some fairy fucking bubble, lighter than air. Him, her
snatch and his stupid fucking badge

Al Swearengen: Welcome to fuckin' Deadwood!
Can be... combative!

Al Swearengen: Wave a penny under the Jew's
nose. They have living breath in them, brings 'em right round.

Seth Bullock: Will I find you have a knife on
you?

Al Swearengen: I won't need no fuckin'
knife.

Al Swearengen: What's the matter — taken by a
vision? You would not want to be staring like that at
me.

A
Lie Agreed Upon, Part Two

Doc Cochran: Jane, for me the female breast
long ago lost mystery or allure. Open your goddamn blouse.

Al: Over time, your quickness with a cocky
rejoinder must have gotten you many punches in the face.

Alma Garret: We do love each other. Our being
together aught not to seem so outlandish a proposition. Except for
every other damn thing.

Swearengen: A full fair-mindedness requires us
also to report that within the Gem, on Deadwood's main
thoroughfare, comely whores, decently priced liquor and the
squarest games of chance in the hills remain unabatedly available
at all hours, seven days a week.

Merrick: The economic aspect is one fabric in
the tapestry of journalism.

Swearengen: Oh, is that your Heathen
imitation? Jump up and down and give a few whoops, as in "Whoop,
that ass fucking hurts."

New Money

E.B. Farnum: Al, if you're not dead and
already moldering, I send news to revive you. A fish to rival the
fabled Leviathan has swum into our waters. Get well soon and we'll
land the cocksucker together. Your friend, E.B.

Seth Bullock: Swearengen said the county
commissioners are all from Yankton.

Sol Star: When was this?

Seth Bullock: Just before we hit the mud. It’s
wrong the hills get no representation.

Sol Star: Even in an Eden like this, wrongs
sometimes occur.

Francis Wolcott: You’ve approached a group in
San Francisco that does business with my employer.

Cy Tolliver: That group and
employer bullshit really quickens me with fuckin’
trust.

Wolcott: That group you’ve approached is a
fraternal Chinese organization.

Tolliver: “Tong” is not a clever enough
word?

Wolcott: You offered them a contract to send
members to this camp. That organization has a pre-existing
arrangement with my employer.

Tolliver: So you work for who, Wolcott? The
railroads? Some mining combination that brings those slant-eyes in
by the boatload?

Requiem for
a Gleet

Ellsworth Because them as poke around Miz
Garret’s workings without a by-your-leave ain’t welcome, Mr.
Wolcott, and you ought not to repeat your fuckin’ mistake.

Wolcott Well, that’s an uncivil response to an
innocent error.

Ellsworth Did you work in the Comstock when
you was beardless?

Wolcott I did.

Ellsworth For Mr. George Hearst, as a keen eye
for the color?

Wolcott As a geologist for Mr. Hearst. Well,
you have the advantage of me, Mr. Ellsworth.

Ellsworth That ain’t a possibility, Wolcott.
No more than an error of yours would be innocent.

Wolcott I do dimly recall an Ellsworth
superintended the consolidated Virginia operations.

Ellsworth I don’t give a fuck what you
recall.

Wolcott A hero. Dug a week without respite to
save three poor souls from a cave-in.

Ellsworth And 46 corpses in a fucking hole
that ought never to have been dug.

Wolcott Always a choice... to count the saved
or the lost.

Ellsworth Get off this property.

Wolcott Just as a man opposed to inevitable
change needn’t invariably be called a Luddite, another choice might
be simply to describe him as slow in his processes.

Ellsworth You tell that cocksucker you work
for the next surrogate he sends oughtn’t to be bloodied from the
Comstock.

Complications

Al:[after waking up from his 'coma']
Did you fuck me when I was out?

Dan: Hell, no.

Al: Then quit looking at me like that.

Richardson: I like you.

Alma: Thank you, Richardson.

Richardson: You’re purdy.

Alma: Thank you very much. And probably that’s
all either of us needs to say on that subject ever again.

Hugo: Had you vision as well as sight, you
would recognize within me not only a man, but an institution and
the future as well.

Steve: Fuck you, fuck the institution, and
fuck the future!

Hugo: You cannot fuck the future, sir. The
future fucks you.

Something Very Expensive

Doc Cochran: You, Al, are an object lesson in
the healing powers of obstinacy and a hostile disposition.

Sol: If you keep it up, we're going to fight,
and you'll have to work by yourself while I convalesce.

Commissioner Jarry: And you, Mr. Wolcott, I
find you the most severe disappointment of all.

Wolcott: Often to myself as well.

Merrick: Lot, before God, could make no case
for that food.

Mary: Lot’s wife may have been in that
food.

E.B. was Left
Out

Al Swearengen: Pain or damage don’t end the
world, or despair or fucking beatings. The world ends when you’re
dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a
man — and give some back.

Alma Garret:[regarding Sofia] You
frighten her.

Al Swearengen: I have that effect.

Alma Garret: I think specifically it was your
plotting against her life.

Dority: Fucks himself up the ass,
Tolliver.

Swearengen: No mean feat! Yet how often we
bring it off.

Barfly: I won't fuck Chinese; I got a mother
living yet.

Hawkeye: She the jealous type?

Con: Hey, you ever hear, Tom, the Chinese
whore has a ancient way of milking ya of yer sorrow, your
loneliness and that awful feeling of bein’ forsaken?

Tom: Seems to me that’d leave you with
nothing.

Childish
Things

Seth Bullock: Maybe you’re mistrusted less as
a killer than showin’ your cards a corner at a time.

Dan: Sometimes I hear you speakin’ in here
when I know there’s nobody in here but you.

Al: You have not yet reached the age, Dan,
have you, where you’re moved to utterance of thoughts properly kept
silent?

Dan: Been known to mutter.

Al: Not the odd mutter. Habitual fuckin’
vocalizing of thoughts best kept to yourself. I will confide
further. Lately... I talk to this package: the severed rotting head
I paid bounty on last year of that murdered fuckin’ Indian.

Joanie Stubbs: Would you like a drink?

Jane: Yes. But my opening position is no.

Charlie:[at Bill Hickock's grave]
Evenin’, Bill. Jane ain’t with me, ‘cause she’s a drunken fuckin’
mess, and I don’t know what to do about it. I know you want her
looked out for, and I’m doin’ my fuckin’ best. But I won’t stand
before you claimin’ optimism. Other news. That letter you wrote
your wife just before that cocksucker murdered you, it come to my
hand. I won’t even try explainin’ fuckin’ how. And knowin’ what we
know about our fucked up postal system, I ain’t committin’ it to
the fuckin’ mails. You know I will try to get it to her, which I
pray’d be a portion off your mind. When I’ve found where she’s at,
on my way settin’ off I’ll tell you. All right. God bless you,
Bill. [starts to leave and then turns back] And as far as
Jane, as drunk as you’ve seen her, you’ve never seen her this
worse. Between us, maybe havin’ lost, wantin’ to keep on. So I - I
don’t know what the fuck to do! But you know I’ll — I’ll keep
tryin.’ [leaves]

Amalgamation and Capital

Samuel Fields:[talking to a horse before
he and Hostetler castrate it] Now, if you want to take it out
on someone, remember it was very dark-skinned white folks that cut
on you. They just sounded like niggers to throw you off.

Tom Nuttall: Knowledge is overrated, William.
Diligence is what’s required in the service of a willing
spirit.

Al Swearengen: They're hypocrite cocksuckers.
And the fuckin' lyin' instruments and tactics they use to fuck
people up the ass can be turned against them.

Francis Wolcott: I feel you breathing down my
neck.

Charlie Utter: Should I exhale out my
ass?

Francis Wolcott: And I believe you're doing it
intentionally.

Charlie Utter: Why? You think I believe you're
a fuckin' cunt?

Francis Wolcott:[turns to face
Utter] If we fight, it won't be a casual matter.

Charlie Utter: Ohhh, I see you got your big
fuckin' knife there, and hid somewhere on your persons you've
probably got some pussified shootin' instrument. But I am good at
first impressions, and you are a fucking cunt, and I DOUBT
you've fought many MEN, maybe even ONE!

Francis Wolcott: On my order, Mr. Tolliver,
Lee will burn this building, mutilating you before, during or after
as I specify, or when he chooses unless I forbid.

Cy Tolliver: Oh, my full attention is at your
disposal.

Advances, None
Miraculous

Hostetler: Horse run trash like that over by
accident, still ain’t a white man on earth gonna stand up against
roping us up, now is there?

Samuel Fields: John Brown would’ve.

Al Swearengen: Sign these documents and leave
unharmed.

Alice Isringhausen: I can’t trust that, Mr.
Swearengen, being that it’s not to your interests.

Al Swearengen: That applies to you most,
fuckin’ sittin’ in that chair distracting my fuckin’ thinking. If I
have to come over there, I’ll cut your fuckin’ throat for you, pen
yet put to paper or not.

A.W. Merrick: And thus the uncharted journey
continues.

Al Swearengen: Merrick, please. As we’ll be
more often in each other’s company, when given to utterance of that
type — consider drinking

Wolcott: I am a sinner who does not expect
forgiveness. But I am not a government official.

Hugo: I do not, my friend Adams, take it up
the ass... But I suspect those that do, do so because they consider
they advance their own interests. Shall we not, like them, pursue
our mutual gratification?

The Whores
Can Come

Al Swearengen: It wouldn’t be the worst thing,
backing a loser to Hearst. Let him pick me up from the canvas
after, dust me the fuck off. I raise the great man’s hand and
murmur, best as I can through split lips, "Your man beat my man’s
balls off, Mr. Hearst." But Hearst’s chink boss in that alley ain’t
to my fuckin’ taste. So what if something delays the battle of the
chinks? Say, durin’ that interval I get to show my ass a few times
to Mr. Hearst. Meanwhile, that pain in the balls Wu is sketching up
a storm, drawin’ fuckin’ little pictures of himself brandishin’ the
lash, drivin’ from a delivery ship a quota of chinks to be blown to
pieces by dynamite working in the mines for Hearst at half the fee,
per chink, that Hearst is paying the San Francisco cocksucker. Now,
by this time Hearst has seen my ass so many times, he knows I’m no
long-term threat. So some brief opposition of our interests ain’t
gonna make him feel like he needs to engage me in a death struggle,
say, by opposin’ local elections. Those circumstances, we can risk
backing Wu, and the great man figures, "I am damaged by neither
outcome. Why not retire to a neutral corner and test my import
against the locals?"

Hearst:[slaps the wall of his room in the
Grand Central Hotel] These walls are coming down.

Wolcott: They'll be your walls soon.

Hearst: Ever since I was a child in Missouri
I've been down ever hole I could find.

Wolcott: Boy-the-earth-talks-to.

Hearst: Yeah, I've told you, that's what the
Indians call me.

Wolcott: Yes.

Hearst: It talks to you too, Francis, I know.
Our time together, your hearing has stayed keen. But this gambler
Tolliver, who was our agent for buying the claims has spoken to me
about you. He says that you've killed women. Prostitutes. That he
has disposed of the bodies for you.

Wolcott:[stunned, fumbles putting out his
cigar]

Hearst: WELL!?

Wolcott: When I was in Campeche, you wrote a
letter on my behalf.

Hearst: To the Jefe de Policia.

Wolcott: "I am aware of Mr. Wolcott's
difficulty. You will find me personally grateful for any
adjustments you may make in his case." What did you think that was
about?

Hearst: I didn't think about it. You were my
agent in Mexico! You had many responsibilities. You asked me for
the letter and I wrote it!

Wolcott: As when the earth talks to you
particularly, you never ask its reasons.

Hearst: I don't need to know why I'm
lucky!

Wolcott: What if the earth talks to us to get
us to arrange its amusements?

Hearst: That sounds like goddamned nonsense to
me.

Wolcott: Suppose to you it whispers, "You are
king over me. I exist to flesh your will."

Hearst: Nonsense.

Wolcott: And to me... "There is no sin." It
happened in Mexico and now it's happened here.

Hearst: We must end our connection, you
understand that, Francis. Make a severance you think is fair. You
know I won't quibble. Does some spirit overtake you? Is that what
you mean by the "talk"?

Wolcott: No.

Hearst: It tells me where the color is. That's
all it tells me. My God.

Season
Three

Tell Your God to Ready For
Blood

Al Swearengen:[on Sol Star] He’s a
candidate for office. He can’t whore-fuck no longer with
impunity.

Calamity Jane: Everyday takes figuring out all
over again how to fucking live.

Al: You see me empty, Sir, do not pause and
inquire, simply assume and refill.

Al Swearengen: Bloodletting on my premises
that I ain’t approved I take as a fucking affront. It puts me off
my feed.

Hearst:How do we know when you are off your
feed?

Al Swearengen: You’ll start to see me tearing
things down. Speeches tonight are canceled. Unless the insult’s
cured by tomorrow, there’ll be further tearing down. Fuck the
fucking elections, and fuck the agreement with Yankton. Let the
camp return to its former repute: unstable and unsafe for
commerce.

Hearst: I’m a great believer in those.

Al Swearengen: Oh, stability, Sir, and
commerce? I can fucking imagine. Think of all they’ve helped you
accomplish.

Calamity Jane: I drink what I’m able. If that
comes to much, that’s the day’s affair and the liquor’s.

I Am Not the Fine Man
You Take Me For

A.W. Merrick: It was gunfire, and it came from
your saloon.

Al Swearengen: Has not the press a duty,
Merrick, qualifying its accounts in time of war?

A.W. Merrick: Are we at war now here in the
camp? Has that fact been suppressed as well? Absent formal
declaration, Al, information which affects this community is not my
prerogative to disseminate. To do so is my sacred
responsibility.

Al Swearengen: Whores currently disseminating
a dose, for example?

A.W. Merrick: To inform within decency’s
limits. We’ve had this discussion before.

Full Faith
and Credit

Charlie Utter: Nigger General and Hostetler
brung that horse back to camp that got away from ‘em and trampled
the Sheriff’s boy.

Joanie Stubbs: Is that so?

Charlie Utter: Wherever the two of them was, I
guess they didn’t feel their lives were in enough danger.

Al Swearengen: I did not shame myself. I keep
an open mind in that area. Kid yourself about your behaviour,
you'll never learn a fuckin' thing. I knew it was comin' too.
Fuckin' Captain, holdin' me down. I knew what the fuck was
next.

Dolly: When he chopped off your finger?

Al Swearengen: He didn't chop off my finger!
Hearst chopped my fuckin' finger off; the other fuck held me down!
They hold you down, y-you can't get at 'em to help yourself.
Fuckin' cold in here anyway, isn't it?

Dolly: You want a blanket?

Al Swearengen: If I do I'll put it round me,
you ain't boss of the fuckin' bedclothes! They hold you down from
behind. Then you wonder why you're helpless. How the fuck could you
not be?

Dolly: I don't like it either.

Al Swearengen: Another one that held me down,
that fuckin' Proctor when I tried to get to that ship. He fuckin'
held me, fuckin' wouldn't let me go. Fuckin' in my mind, y'see, she
was being restrained, couldn't get back off, that had got on the
boat to fuckin' New Orleans to go suck prick in Georgia. She
changed her mind, and I was bein' restrained by that fat, bastard
orphanage Proctor! Anyway, that's it, that's the end of it, that's
the fuckin' conclusion ... CHRIST, I'D'VE WISHED TO- [catches
himself] Though probably she'd'a thrown be overboard anyway,
but I'd'a wished to get to that fuckin' ship. But I was bein'
restrained. I couldn't get from where she'd left me. He held me to
that bed, her callin' from the ship that had changed her mind.

Dolly[quietly]: I don't like it
either.

Al Swearengen: No, huh? ... What?

Dolly: When they hold you down.

Al Swearengen: I guess I do that, huh, with
your fuckin' hair?

Dolly: No

Al Swearengen: No?... Well, bless you for a
fuckin' fibber.

A Two-Headed
Beast

Al Swearengen: [Hearst] makes of me and
Tolliver a two-headed beast to savage what might be healthy borne
out of the fucking election and gnaw its own privates off-hours.
Plans keep coming to the cocksucker, that their final sum is this:
but for what brings income to him, break what he can; what he
can’t, set those parts against themselves to weaken.

Johnny: If it's gettin' to go wrong, Dan, you
just drop flat.

Dan: What the fuck did you just say?

Johnny: Drop flat if it's going wrong, and
I'll blow his fucking head off

Dan: You do and it'll be the last goddamn
thing you do on this fucking earth. Going wrong is not the end of
fucking things, Johnny. Fuck no! I have come back from plenty of
shit that looked like it was going wrong.

Trixie: The bank’s founder and president,
Chief Officer as well, of air-headed smugness and headlong plunges
unawares into the fucking abyss.

Sol Star: I don’t understand.

Trixie: You wouldn’t. You’re too fucking
healthy-minded. You’ll sit here waiting for me to materialize from
a piece of fucking furniture and think the world is normal.

Johnny: I wish you'd look in on Dan, boss. Not
for being poorly as... down.

Al Swearengen: Johnny... some shit's best
walked through alone.

Johnny: Dan's killed people before. You have
too. But neither've been solitary after

Al Swearengen: A fair fight, something Dan and
I have always struggled to avoid, is different. You see the light
go out in their eyes. It's just you left, and death.

Hearst:[to Tolliver] The Sheriff
recently put me on notice. He is vigilant of my possible
"transgressions."

Bullock: You sound drunk to me.

Hearst: Whom are you addressing?

Bullock: You. You sound drunk.

Hearst: Do I? [Bullock nods] Hm. When
I say "Go fuck yourself," Sheriff, will you put that down to
drunkenness or a high estimate of your athleticism?

Bullock:[growing angry] Did you just
tell me, "Fuck myself?"

Hearst: I think I did. And to shut up, or I
will quiet you myself.

Bullock: You're under arrest.

Hearst:[defiantly] Fuck you. And
shut up, or I will shut you up for good.

[Bullock draws his gun on Hearst.]

Bullock: For threatening a Peace Officer, I'm
taking you into custody.

Hearst: Don't be stupid, Bullock...

Bullock: Don't YOU be fucking stupid!

[Bullock grabs Hearst by the ear and drags him out of the
Bella Union. His rage seething, he snarls into Hearst's
ear:]

Bullock:Fuck...you!

A Rich
Find

E.B. Farnham: It’s Hearst. Hearst: is he
Caesar, to have fights to the death for diversion? Murder his
workers at whim? Smash passages in the fucking wall? A man of less
wealth would be in fucking restraints.

Al: We’re in the presence of the new.

E.B.: Fuck the fucking new! Jesus Christ, Al.
Is it over for us here?

Charlie Utter: One thing: if he knew it was
coming, Bill [Hickock] was not shy of drawing first.

Sol: Seth locked up Hearst instead of
that.

Charlie Utter: Oh, I get it.

Sol: What does that mean?

Charlie Utter: It means, Mr. Star, after
leading him by the ear through camp for all to fucking see, Seth
installs Hearst in a cell adjoining a man he’s had killed, that the
knife still protrudes out of his chest. And as much as me and
Hearst conversed, I made him address my ass. So do let’s don’t
pretend Hearst will feel he was treated legal or civilized, or that
his business with us is finished. Hearst is fucking coming.
Bringing us back to Bill and doing unto others first. Which ought
maybe include a visit to Hearst’s fucking diggings. And his muscle
you fail to murder before they arouse? You bring to chase you to
camp, Judas goat the cocksuckers, for Swearengen’s men and
Tolliver’s to mow down from fucking ambush while we’re up seeing to
Hearst.

Sol: There’ll be nothing left of the
camp.

Charlie Utter: How much you figure will stand
once Hearst had his fucking say?

Hearst: This place displeases me. I’m taking
measures to bring it down.

Dan Dority: Yeah, and when I feel a shit
coming on I’ll remember to drop my pants.

Al Swearengen: The obvious merits utterance.
Character is fucking pertinent.

Dan Dority: If I’m to go, I’d as soon get
started before the darkness.

Al Swearengen: Going means the darkness is
upon us.

Seth: Charlie Utter thinks it has to come to
blood.

Al: Charlie Utter’s likely right.

Seth: And if it has to, that we should strike
first.

Al: Believe me, even now in the forest the
blade would be between my teeth; me and you making our way
stealthily forward. And as to us and him, if blood’s what it
finally comes to, 100 years from now the forest is what they’ll
find here. Dewy morning’s lost its appeal for me. I prefer to wake
indoors. Dan! You don’t travel tonight! Need of canned peaches,
Johnny. Let’s collect the camp elders. Be baffled among friends,
huh?

Unauthorized Cinnamon

George Hearst: I knocked holes in these walls.
Confinement gives me the fidgets.

Odell: Set yourself up comfortable.

George Hearst: Let me confide as well, Odell,
that when people only say to me with other words what I have just
said to them, I quickly grow impatient.

George Hearst: Gold is every man’s
opportunity. Why do I make that argument? Because every defect in a
man and in others a way of taking him. Our agreement that gold has
value gives us power to rise above.

Odell: Fond as you are of my mother, without
that gold I showed you, I don’t expect we’d be out here
talking.

George Hearst: That is correct. And for your
effrontery at our meal a moment ago, I’d have seen you shot or
hanged without second thought. The value I gave the gold restrained
me, you see? your utility in connection to it. And because of my
gold those at the other tables deferred to my restraint. Gold
confers power. Power comes to any man who has the color.

Blazanov: Fuck confidentiality of
communication.

Al Swearengen: Why not fuck a woman
instead?

Blazanov: Hope to, eventually.

Hearst: I hate these places, Odell, because
the truth that I know, the promise that I bring, the necessities
I'm prepared to accept make me outcast. Isn't that foolish? Isn't
that foolishness? An old man disabused long ago of certain
yearnings and hopes as to how he would be held by his fellows, and
yet I weep.

Al Swearengen:[to Doc] Jesus Christ!
The fucking gimp finds something useful to do in the fucking brace
you made her. Do you think you could treat "Being Johnny" — always
struggling to fashion a fuckin' thought? Every fucking night, I,
that could cut a throat and sleep the sleep of the just, spend six
fucking wakings trying to find a piss-pot with my dribble and
wondering when I got to be so old. [throws swatches down to
Doc] Pick a fucking swatch for a spit rag, use the others for
masks, and go about your fucking business. I ain't learning a new
doc's quirks!

Leviathan
Smiles

George Hearst: I’m to take you for
majestically neutral?

Merrick: I’d make the less exalted claim, as a
journalist, of keeping my opinions to myself.

George Hearst: You are less majestically
neutral than cloaking your cowardice in principle?

Merrick: I can only answer perhaps, Mr.
Hearst, events have not yet disclosed to me all that I am.

Seth Bullock: I’ve had a wire... says your
statement is true, far as having worked as a lawman. Not asking why
you put the work aside, I’ll say only some that do find themselves
ready and uniquely able to work the other side of the street. Some
do that. I took the badge off myself once; without losing my
impulse to beat on certain types.

Wyatt Earp: No, that seems never to go.

Cy Tolliver: [on seeing a gang of Pinkertons
ride into camp] Take them amateurs off the fucking sugar tit. Mr.
Hearst brought the pros to town.

Amateur
Night

Hearst: You will not mistake the newspaper
man: he looks like a... big turtle.

Silas Adams: Horsemen come to camp by
torchlight last night.

Cy Tolliver: Tell Al as we didn’t wake to the
apocalypse, I suppose all we need fear is their Winchesters.

Morgan: They have their fuckin' fun with you,
and in the morning, they treat you like dirt.

Wyatt:[chuckles] And you a fucking
virgin...

Morgan: No, and not pretending to be.

Wyatt: ...to be wounded by her callous
ways.

Morgan: All I’m saying is she could have been
nicer, and those steerers more fuckin' polite.

Hugo Jarry: Washington harasses us for our
difficulties in distribution to the Indians, thereby distracting
the nation at large from Washington’s own fiscal turpitudes and
miasms.

Silas: There amongst the turpitudes and
miasms, you got caught stealing the money.

Hugo Jarry: The money was not stolen. There
was an amount of siphoning off and certain irregularlities.

Silas: Sounds like it was regular as milking
Bessie, 96¢ on the dollar.

Hugo Jarry: Rank exaggeration.

Silas: If it was less than 90, you fucked
generations of Indian agents to come.

Jane: Get out of my fucking light.

Mose: It’s me.

Jane: Who is me? The fucking eclipse?

Mose: Mose Manuel.

Jane: Oh, really? I thought it — it was
Giganto, the runaway circus elephant.

Mose: Miss Stubbs has been looking for you.
Those kids need chaperoning to the new schoolhouse, Jane. [Jane
turns away and puts her hands to her ears, shutting her eyes.]
Get up and walk them kids.

Jane: Okay, Giganto! Don’t tusk me to death
with your tusks. [steadies herself, sheathing her gun] How
long do I have to assemble myself?

Mose: They’ll be ready to go in a few
minutes.

Jane: Shut up.

A Constant
Throb

George Hearst: Elections cannot inconvenience
me. They ratify my will or I neuter them.

Hugo Jarry: Perhaps then, rather, at this
moment—having had in fact no connection to the regrettable incident
involving Mrs. Ellsworth—you are Socrates to my Alcibiades, taking
it upon yourself to edify me?

George Hearst: Are you saying you want to fuck
me?

Hugo Jarry:[confused] What?

George Hearst: Well, you keep calling yourself
Alcibiades to my Socrates. Are you proposing some sort of a
homosexual connection between us?

Hugo Jarry: I'd forgot that part of the
story.

Al Swearengen: Tell E.B. nothing.

Richardson: I’ll just keep quiet.

Al Swearengen: No. Tell E.B. nothing’s going
on and then tell him, "If I wanted to tell you anything, I’d have
told you. Don’t send the imbecile over with no more notes."

Pinkerton: Let me tell you something, Mr.
Swearengen. You don’t scare me, and you don’t fucking know what
happened with the 69th New York. I will tell you this: I didn’t
like what happened to Joe Turner. Mr. Hearst came to him and said,
"Make it last, even if you gain the upper hand and can kill him."
And I think that was halfway selfish of Mr. Hearst, whereas Joe
could have killed your man and didn’t, and look how it wound up.
But that’s as much as I feel like saying, and that’s neither here
nor fucking there.

The Catbird
Seat

Al Swearengen: Knowing him for an errant
maniac, I’ll still not believe Bullock doubts me.

Al Swearengen: [reading a telegram from
Hawkeye] "23 men hired, all on our way." This squaw-fuckin’ idiot.
Proves in eight words he’s incompetent and a fuckin’ liar. He can’t
have got Adams’ telegram more than four hours ago, yet he expects
me to believe that in four hours he can prudently assess the
qualities of 23 hires. And you know what "on our way" means,
huh?

Blazanov: No.

Al Swearengen: "On our way" means they’re
getting drunk and blown in some saloon in Cheyenne and running
their mouths about the big fuckin’ filibustering expedition they’re
being commissioned for under the command of the famous Hawkeye; the
laziest, most shit-faced whore-mongering cocksucker to ever piss my
money away!

Jack Langrishe: The man I once was, Al, was
not formidable, and I am but his shadow now. And yet I’d be put to
use. A decoy, perhaps. A weight to drop on villains from
above.

Hearst: I oughtn't to work in these places. I
was not born to crush my own kind.

Al Swearengen:[to his whores, pointing at
a sleeping man] Rouse him to spend on pussy, or rob the son of
a bitch.

Tell
Him Something Pretty

Adams: When he ain't lyin', Al's the most
honourable man you'll ever meet.

Hearst: Have the gold seen to [Alma's] bank,
Newman. Have its purity assayed. Let her or her seconds choose the
man. When that tedium is completed, have the documents witnessed as
though we were all of us Jews. And bring the business back to me.
[turns to leave] Excuse my absence, Mr. Star, as I hope
you’ll forgive my thoughtless aspersion on your race. [Sol
nods.] You stand for local office, but some contests being
countywide, I await wires from the other camps. [holds the door
open and Alma turns to leave. Hearst sniffs as she passes by.]
You’ve changed your scent.

Hearst: You mistake for fear, Mr. Bullock,
what is in fact preoccupation. I’m having a conversation you cannot
hear.

Rutherford: Right to vote shall not be
abridged or denied... [drinks]... on account of race or
color or condition of previous servitude. 15th Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution, ratified 1870, law of the land thereafter,
including territories.

A Pinkerton: They got something about niggers
not waiting their turn?

Rutherford: Not that I’m aware of.

A Pinkerton: Oh, you ain’t aware of it? Then I
guess you’ll want this white man voting first?

Fields: What’s a few minutes more?

Charlie Utter: The nigger was before him.

A Pinkerton: No he wasn’t.

Charlie Utter: I guess you’re blind and
stupid.

Fields: I believe I’ll vote later.

Charlie Utter: Fuck if you will. Get your
nigger ass back in line.

A Pinkerton:[to Fields] You’d better
be walking him home afterwards. [pulls on his collar and
gags]

Charlie Utter: You’d better see to that
yourself, ‘cause if he don’t make it, you’ll be eating your spuds
runnin' till I hunt you the fuck down.

Al Swearengen:[talking to the Indian head
in the box] This fuckin' place is gonna be a fuckin' misery.
Every fuckin' one of them, every fuckin' time I walk by, "Ooh, how
could you? How could you?" With their big fuckin' cow eyes. The
entire fuckin' gaggle of ‘em is gonna have to bleed and quit before
we can even hope for peace. What’s the fuckin' alternative? I ain’t
fuckin’ killing her that sat nights with me sick and takin' slaps
to her mug that were some less than fuckin' fair. I should have
fuckin' learned to use a gun, but I’m too fuckin' entrenched in my
ways. And you ain’t exactly the one to be levelin' criticisms on
the score of being slow to adapt. You fuckin' people are the
original slow fuckin' learners!

Charlie Utter: You done fuckin' good.

Seth Bullock: I did fuckin' nothin.'

Charlie Utter: That's often the tough one, in
aid of the larger purpose.

Seth Bullock: Which is layin' head to pillow
and not confusin' yourself with a sucker?

Deadwood features many historical people. For example, Wild Bill Hickok, Seth Bullock, Sol Star, Calamity Jane, Al Swearengen, Wyatt Earp, E. B. Farnum, Charlie Utter and George Hearst have all been used in the series. The stories that deal these characters include historical truths as well as fictional parts. Some of the characters are fully fictional, but they may have been based on actual persons.